Alert archive / Alabama / Mesoscale Discussions in 2003

Mesoscale Discussion 191

March 5, 2003Bibb County, Chilton County, Perry County, Alabama

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Mar 5, 2003, 6:58 PM CST for Bibb County, Chilton County, Perry County, Alabama. It was in force for 62 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 5, 2003, 6:58 PM CST (00:58 UTC)
Expired
Mar 5, 2003, 8:00 PM CST
In force
62 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Bibb County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Perry County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 40 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:57 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 40 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2003-03-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2003-03-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 131 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
446 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
59 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
131 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
245 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

958 
ACUS11 KWNS 060059
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 060058 
ALZ000-060200-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0191
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0658 PM CST WED MAR 05 2003

AREAS AFFECTED...AL

CONCERNING...TORNADO WATCH 28...

VALID 060058Z - 060200Z

DAMAGING WINDS LIKELY FROM NEAR TCL TO 45 WSW 0AS AS SMALL BOW
ECHO ECHO MOVES ENEWD AT 50 KT. POTENTIAL FOR TORNADOES WITH THIS
SYSTEM PERSIST.



LATEST SURFACE ANALYSIS INDICATES WARM FRONT EXTENDS FROM SUMNER
COUNTY EWD TO NEAR THE DALLAS/PERRY COUNTY BORDER AND INTO
AUTAUGA COUNTY. BOW REMAINS SLIGHTLY ELEVATED WITH DAMAGE WINDS
LIKELY AND SMALLER THREAT FOR TORNADOES. HOWEVER...THE WARM FRONT
IS ADVANCING NWD AT 10 TO 15 KT AND CURRENT MOTION OF BOW MAY
RESULT IN THESE TWO FEATURES INTERSECTING NEAR PERRY/CHILTON/BIBB
COUNTIES. RECENT DIAGNOSTIC ANALYSIS INDICATES THAT THE 1KM SRH
HAS INCREASED TO NEAR 250 M**2/S**2 AND MLCAPES ARE NEAR 1000
J/KG /SOUTH OF THE WARM FRONT. ENVIRONMENTAL PARAMETERS SUGGESTS
THE  THREAT FOR TORNADOES WILL INCREASE AS THE BOW MOVES INTO
CENTRAL AL DURING THE NEXT HOUR OR SO.



..IMY.. 03/06/2003

...PLEASE SEE WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV FOR GRAPHIC PRODUCT...

33038703 33008730 32748742 32568722 32788653 33008661

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 5, 8:10 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAutauga, Calhoun, Chambers, Clay, Cleburne, Coosa and 9 more4 hr
Mar 5, 9:49 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBlount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Colbert, Cullman, DeKalb and 16 more116 min
Mar 6, 3:30 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Bibb, Butler, Chambers, Chilton, Choctaw and 17 more90 min
Mar 6, 5:39 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Chambers, Clarke and 16 more96 min
Mar 6, 7:37 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarbour, Bullock, Chambers, Crenshaw, Elmore, Lee and 5 more83 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Alabama, 2003Every mesoscale discussion in 2003

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.